Basic Event Information
Date: 20 March – 1 May 2020, once per week
Location: ONLINE
Organizer: Black Pony d.o.o. and FM agency d.o.o.
Client: Kurzschluss
Event Type: Online music event // online concert
EVENT CATEGORY: DIGITAL EVENTS | Online Event – LIVE STREAM
WATCH THE EVENT VIDEO – https://vimeo.com/491751771/6d9f26b146
Event description and key objectives
Slovenia, like the rest of the world, had to implement preventative measures to limit the spread of the Covid 19 amongst its population and protect the most vulnerable of its community. Self-isolation was one of the key preventative measures to limit the spread of the virus, but was more likely not to be taken as seriously by active population, especially younger people who oftentimes felt the virus didn’t pose as big of a threat to them.*As one of the biggest entertainment brands in Slovenia, Kurzschluss had direct access to more than 35.000 people aged between 18 to 45 through social media channels and emails. We decided to start an initiative to encourage active population and young(er) people to stay home through hosting free weekly live stream music experiences every Friday when the temptation for socializing was at it’s highest. Our key objectives were to convince as many people to attend our online parties from their home as we did to visit our live events in the past (approx 4000/event) and to raise awareness about the importance of social-distancing by reaching at least 50% of people aged 18 to 45 through earned media. On 20th of March, when quarantine was officially declared in Slovenia, we launched #ŽURAMDOMA, a series of 7 online events, hosting Slovenia’s most renowned DJs.
- *Source: Ninamedia, independent research agency, published: https://bit.ly/3mkJdWq
- Statement of general director University Medical Centre Ljubljana: https://bit.ly/3njWHTQ
- Sarcasm: https://bit.ly/3mie5qE
Key challenges
Although Kurzschluss hosted over 230 internationally awarded DJ’s, acts and musicians and counted over 250.000 visitors, organized over 60 events in different experimental venues (from warehouses to rooftops), this was the first time Kurzschluss organized a series of online music events. The key challenges were:
1. Time to market
We had to act fast to use our influence as a party brand and encourage young people to help limit the spread of the virus. We had to secure all of the DJ bookings, production teams and equipment needed to implement a live broadcast from artist’s homes that were not originally intended for such events.
2. Keep our brand promise
We wanted to stay true to our commitment of providing best-in-class clubbing and music entertainment even without a venue and no option of a full-service experience with an extensive venue and production infrastructure (technical support, amplification, hostesses, catering, bartending, etc.)
3. Influence young people
Convincing young people to attend and stay at home wasn’t an easy task. Government and medical experts had a hard time getting their attention, so we needed to find a way to get them to listen. Literally.
4. Safe production
How to organize and coordinate the whole team (DJ, cameras, photographer) in one room, but still respect all precaution measures?
Creativity
1. #ŽURAMDOMA
We named the project #ŽURAMDOMA (eng. #PARTYATHOME); an intentional spin-off of a slogan #STAYHOME to encourage safe partying while promoting social distancing.
2. Creative Communication approach with 200 euros budget
#ŽURAMDOMA was free to attend since it was designed as a social responsibility project. Since we didn’t generate any revenue, we were limited expenses wise and only had 200 euros to invest in advertising. We had to be creative to reach a broader audience, so we made custom video invitations with DJs, where every artist invited fans to participate in the movement and used these videos to generate publications. To increase media coverage we generated multiple press releases with custom articles and approached media one by one. We encouraged the use of a hashtag #ŽURAMDOMA that helped spread the word of a safe online party every Friday night without a financial investment.
3. Creating a space for connection
We designed a virtual dancefloor, where attendees could join in a live broadcast, show their dance moves, and encouraged attendants to participate in a live debate, that allowed people to interact and be a part of a community even though they were home alone.
4. Branding the virtual stage
We upgraded the experience from first shows with the use of new front layer, that reflected the overall graphic image and stage at offline Kurzschluss events. It was used to communicate the values of Kurzschluss to the followers through custom made messages.
Innovation
We launched the campaign on the day lockdown was set in Slovenia and were the first promotor in Slovenia that launched free and safe parties with electronic music via live stream with renowned Slovenian DJ’s. We designed a branded virtual dancefloor, where the attendees could join in a live broadcast and show their dance moves and gave the attendees a chance to share their opinion and codesign our lineup for upcoming online events.
Execution
#ŽURAMDOMA launched on March 20, on the day that lockdown was officially declared in Slovenia. Live streaming was held up every Friday at 8.00 p.m. for 7 consecutive weeks of lockdown on our official Facebook page. The first one hosted legendary DJ Umek, whose 2-hour live stream generated more than 5000 users, 8000 comments and reached more than 400.000 Facebook users in the following days. Next in line were Ian Sound, Damir Hoffman, DJ Shark, DJ Psiho, Tim Urbanya and Brina Knauss. The realization of the initiative was a great challenge from the technical, production and logistical point of view during the lockdown. For high-quality live stream production, which in most cases took place with three cameras, it was necessary to ensure a sufficiently high data transfer rate in locations and spaces that were not originally intended for such events. As we wanted to give our fans more than just an ordinary live stream experience, we came up with an idea and implemented a technical solution to communicate the vision and values of Kurzschluss and to engage fans with the help of Zoom in a live stream. During the broadcast, the moderator took care of the communication with the fans in the chat room and at a remote location, a small team took care of the production.
Measurable results
From March 8 until May 1 #ŽURAMDOMA online events cumulatively reached 683.442 Facebook users*, 635.175 (92 %) of the people reached were aged between 18 and 45. Seven online events #ŽURAMDOMA generated 380.500 views, 12.196 comments and 1.232 shares. Keeping in mind that Slovenia has a population of 2.1 million people and 700.569**people aged betweed 18 – 45, we reached 90% of Slovenians in the target group. With 8 press releases in 7 weeks we reached a value of 34.461 € media coverage (AVE). Our Return on investment**** was a staggering 2774 %. Most importantly: Thanks to #ŽURAMDOMA Kurzschluss saved the party!
*Total sum of People reached through all 7 online videos; keep in mind that 1 person could attend more than 1 event.
**Source: https://www.stat.si/StatWeb/
***Total sum of People reached in a time period (March 19-May 10); keep in mind that 1 person could be reached through multiple media channels.
**** Method ROI was calculated = ((Final Value of Investment− Initial Value of Investment) / Cost of Investment ) × 100%. Final Value of Investment consists of sum AVE, reach and views value, comments value and shares value. Initial Value of Investment and Cost of Investment consists of sum costs of media buying, costs of purchasing and renting equipment, costs of clipping.
Communication
We registered 83 press publications (75 in digital, 5 in print and 3 in TV media) and cumulatively reached 5.048.140* people. Press releases were not only promotion/product-oriented but focused mainly on the social aspect of Covid 19, spreading awareness about prevention and taking a responsible precaution on limiting the spread of the virus by staying home, even on a Friday night. With a 200 euro investment in media buy and a key objective of spreading awareness about the importance of safe and responsible social-distancing gatherings during the quarantine we surpassed our primary goal of reaching at least 50 % of people aged 18 to 45 through earned media. That was a big challenge primarily among our target group, whereas the younger generation was more likely to take government and experts advice less seriously**. Using popular DJ’s as their role models in a campaign that involved their point of interest (parties), we got their attention and could convey a more serious and important message.
*Total sum of People reached in a time period (March 19-May 10); keep in mind that 1 person could be reached through multiple media channels and multiple times.
**Source: https://www.rtvslo.si/zdravje/logarjeva-okuzbe-med-mladimi-ker-bolezni-covid-19-ne-jemljejo-resno/533199
The use of sustainable practices
When hosting original offline Kurzschluss events, with approx 4000 visitors per night, we have to consider not only the logistics of getting international artists to the event venue but also the logistics of visitors within the city of Ljubljana and from other parts of Slovenia, the amount of plastic waste like straws, cups and plastic bags for rubbish waste, created every day of the event and venue energy. With online events #ŽURAMDOMA we still have achieved the engagement and results we wanted but without the environmental impact, measured by carbon footprint.
